Improvement in self-winding telegraphic registers



2 Sheets-Sheet L Patented Jan. 4, 1853.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. J. CLARK.

Telegraphic Register.

Patented Jan. 4, 1853.

N. FEHRs Plmo-Lithugnpher. Washinlnu. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES J. CLARK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SELF-WINDING TELEGRAPHIC REGISTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,514, dated January 4,1853.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES J. CLARK, ofthe city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew and usefullinprovementin the Construction of Telegraph- Registers, whichIdenominate the Self-Windin gltegister; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing bad to the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a sideview or elevation of my improved register, with the nearer side plateremoved; Fig. 2, an end view, and Fig. 3 a view of the batteryconnections hereinafter described.

The arrangement with which my. improvement is to be combined consists inattaching an adaptation to the ordinary Morse telegraphregister of asecond electro-magnet, (seen at A, Fig. 1,) an armature, R, attached toone extremity of a lever, B, and a click, 0, at the other extremity.This click works into a ratchet-wheel, E. To the lower extremity of thelever,behind the armature, a reacting spring, S, is attached. On theshaft T of the ratchet-wheel E another ratchet-wheel, F, of largerdiameter, is placed, with a fixed click, G, catching into the teeth ofthe wheel F at one part of its circumferenee. On the same shaft with theratchet-wheels E and F is a small cog-wheel, H, working into anotherlarge cog-wheel, K, to the shaft of which last wheel the spring is attached. The other end of the spring is fixed to the box, as in a watch.

The operation of this part of the improvement is as follows The wire ofthe local circuit of any Mor'se-tele graph oilice,after leaving thelocal battery at Z, Fig. 3, is made to pass around the coils of theregister-magnet X, thence to the brass frame-work of the instrument atY, thence to the winding-magnet A, thence to another part of theinstrument, V, insulated from the rest of the instrument, except by across-circuit when the part P is closed, and from V to N. Thereceiving-magnet of the main telegraphic circuit closes the localcircuit. The current of the local circuit passes through theregister-magnet X to the winding-magnet A, and through the point V backto the .local battery. Thus the armature B is attracted forward andmoved 'backward all the time that the receiving-magnet is in operation.As the armature moves backwa-rdand forward the lever B vibrates, and ateach vibration revolves theratchet-wheel E through the space of onetooth or more, according to the set-screw. The second click, G, catchesin the ratchet wheel F and prevents the wheel E, which is on the sameshaft, from going backwhen the click 0 recedes from the ratch ets. Therevolution of the ratchet-wheels revolves the cog-wheel H and K, andthus winds up the spring which is the motive power of the register. Thespring is confined within a spring-box, and is made, by its elasticforce, to rotate the ordinary train of wheels which drag the paperbetween the pen-point and the roller of the ordinary register.

My improvement consists in an arrangement by which, when the spring iswound up to a certain point, the current through the windingmagnet isout off by establishing a cross-connection by the pointsPandQcoming intocontact until the instrument has run down a little, when the points Pand Q separate, and the current through the winding-magnet isre-established and the winding operation is renewed. By this part of myimprovement the spring is always kept wound up to a certainpoint and Iprevented from running down or from being wound up too tight. Thearrangement of mechanism by which this'is effected is shown in Figs. 1and 2, and is as follows: On the shalt of the spring and revolving withthe spring is a small ivory wheel, I), with a brass circumference, I),having a metallic arm, P, projecting radially out from it. To the wheelU, which revolves with the spring-box, a small side me tallicprojection, Chis fixed. Against the brass circumference b the spring Mpresses. The circuit is so arranged that when P touches Q across-circuit is established from the registermagnet through the body ofthe instrument, through Q to P, along the spring M thence back to thebattery, thus cutting oh the circuit through the winding-magnet andthrowing it out of operation. As the instrument runs down the projectionQ rotates in advance of P and breaks the short cross-circuit, and thecurrent passes through the winding magnet and it comes again intooperation. The arrangement of these circuits may be seen at Fig. 3.'

I representsthe spring, and Y the connection with the body of theinstrument through the wheel U. YVhen P comes into contact with Q, Fig.1, then the circuit at P Q, Fig. 3, is

closed, and the current goes from Z to X, from X to Y, from Y direct toV, and thence to N, excluding A. Vhen thecircuit at P Q is broken, thecurrent goes from Z to X, from X to Y, from Y to A, from A to V, andthence to N, including A.

The red dotted line, Fig. 1, represents the course pursued by thecurrent through the frame-work, body of the instrument, and the springM, as above described, when the points P and Q come into contact, andthe full red line shows its course through the wires when A is included.

I have describediny improvementas applied in connection .only with aspring as the motive power of the register. It can, however, be appliedin connection with a weight as the 1130- tive power, though not soconveniently. In thatcase the machinery of the second partonly wouldhave to be modified slightly.

The arrangement of mechanism of the second' part of my improvement maybe variously modified without changing the principle or'featnreot'itsactionas, for example, if the motive power of the register be a spring,an arm may be made to project from one of the leaves of the spring, andas the spring is wound up this little arm will approach toward theshaft, and as the spring unwinds it will recede from the shaft. This armmay be thus made to come into contact and outof contact with aninsulated brass ring, and thus make and break thesmall circuit describedabove as cutting off the winding-magnet; or, if the register be impelledby weights, then, when the weight reaches a certain point, it can, makea contact which shall have asimilar efi'ect.

Instead of employing the local battery of the register-magnet, aseparate local battery may be employed to operate the winding-magnet.Then the ordinary windingmagnets circuit would be operated by thereceiving-magnet in the same manner as described above, the regulatin garrangement being then applied simply to break and close the circuit ofthe windingmagnet.

I do not desireto claim the application ofthe click and ratchet-wheeloperated by an electromagnet vibrating a lever to cause rotation andobtain power; but

WhatI do desire to clann, and secure by Letters Patent, is-

Regulating the current through the coil of the electro-magnet of theself-windingappara tus by means of the relative motion of thespri'ngsbaft and spring-box, so that when the spring has been wound upto a certain point a that current shall be cut off and the self-windingapparatus cease to act.

JAMES J. CLARK.

Witnesses:

JNO. EYN SHAW, STEPHEN F. SIMMoNs.

